


will you love me like you loved me

by livtontea



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Blood, Character Death, Dancing, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Romance, Sad, Stargazing, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 03:32:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19220710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livtontea/pseuds/livtontea
Summary: Full of field and starsYou carried all of timeOh and, heavens, when you looked at meYour eyes were like machineryYour hands were making artifacts in the corner of my mind





	will you love me like you loved me

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written any Klaus and Dave yet. Now I have. Enjoy.
> 
> Title from [Mary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5OV1JPqlNQ) by Big Thief
> 
> I know it's a bit late, but I think this could qualify as "Happy Pride!"

Klaus and Dave sit together in the grass, looking up at the night sky. Their heads are tilted up at the stars, and their hands are inches apart on the ground. If Klaus stretched his fingers, he could overlap his hand with Dave’s.

He doesn’t. Not yet.

They sit on the grass and look up at the stars. The air is still and there’s nothing to be heard except for the crickets and their own breathing. It’s almost magical.

“Have you ever,” whispers Dave. “Seen a shooting star?”

“I think so,” whispers back Klaus. “Once or twice.”

Dave smiles and nods. “Did you ever make a wish?”

“A wish?”

Klaus looks at Dave. He traces the curve of his lips and the wave of his hair with his eyes. He soaks in every bit of Dave that he’s allowed to take. “Why would you wish on something like that?”

“You mean you haven’t ever made a wish?” Dave looks at Klaus through the corner of his eye, without moving his head. “Not once?”

“No,” shakes his head Klaus.

“That’s okay. I’ll show you how.”

Klaus nods, enamored with the way the moonlight shines onto Dave’s face and paints him in silver light. “Okay,” he breathes. “Show me how to wish on stars.”

Dave gently places his hand on Klaus’s chest and pushes him back, then falls into the grass next to him. “Here,” he says. They’re still whispering, neither wanting to break the tenderness of the moment. “It’ll be easier to see them like this.”

“Them?” echoes Klaus.

“The stars.”

“Oh,” Klaus whispers.

Dave squints at the sky with a certain intensity in his eyes that Klaus loves. It’s like Dave’s given himself completely to being soft and kind and absolutely wonderful, and Klaus would give anything to be able to tell Dave how beautiful that is.

“When you see a shooting star, you close your eyes,” explains Dave. “And then you make a wish.”

Klaus blinks in surprise. “That’s it?”

“Well, you can’t tell anybody what your wish is, or else it won’t come true,” Dave grins. “But that’s it.”

“Oh,” breathes Klaus.

“Do you want to try it now?”

“Yes,” murmurs Klaus. “Of course.” He doesn’t mention that he’s willing to try anything as long as Dave is by his side.

They lay together in the grass, hands nearly touching, when Dave slowly reaches out, and gently threads his fingers through Klaus’s. Klaus looks down at their hands, intertwined, and smiles to himself.

He squeezes Dave’s hand, just a little bit, and feels a spark of delight light up in his heart when Dave squeezes back. He looks at the sky, letting his eyes roam the canopy of stars above them.

Suddenly, he sees a streak of light dart across the sky.

He immediately squeezes his eyes shut, and thinks as hard as he can of the one thing he wants most right now.

_I wish that I could stay by Dave’s side for forever._

+

“Let’s dance,” holds out his hand Klaus. They’re in a club surrounded by drunk men and women alike, and everybody is swaying to music, whether it’s inside their head or out.

“I can’t,” says Dave. “I don’t know how.”

Klaus laughs. “That’s okay. I’ll show you.”

“Okay,” Dave nods hesitantly. “Show me how to dance.”

Klaus takes Dave by the hand and starts leading him away from the bar. “Where are we going?” asks Dave.

“Outside.”

Dave nods. Klaus takes them through crowds of giggling and dancing drunks, and then they get to the back door. Klaus pushes it open and takes a breath of the crisp night air when it hits him.

Dave steps out behind Klaus and closes the door behind him. “Why did you take me outside?”

“More room,” Klaus says. “And maybe I just wanted you all to myself.”

Dave’s cheeks tint red, but he gives no other sign of being flustered.

“Come on,” Klaus says. “Give me your hand.”

Dave holds out his hand, and Klaus slips it into his. “Okay. Now put your other hand on my shoulder.”

Dave’s hands are both touching Klaus now, and it’s almost too much. The softness of his skin and the tenderness of his touch are almost too much. But not quite.

“Great.” Klaus lifts the hand that’s holding Dave’s into the air slightly and lowers his other one onto Dave’s waist. Dave tenses up, but then relaxes back into the calm just as quickly.

“Now what?” he breathes.

“And now we dance.”

They sway together, hand in hand, in the cool January rain. There are flecks of water in Dave’s hair, some of them rolling down and dripping onto his face. There are tiny droplets painting his skin colors that only Klaus can see, and it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever come across in his entire life.

“You’re beautiful,” he breathes. Maybe he shouldn’t have said it. But maybe there were things worth the risks.

Dave’s eyes widen. “You really think so?”

“I do,” says Klaus. “I have, from the beginning.”

Dave huffs a warm laugh. “You're a flirt.”

“Maybe so,” murmurs Klaus. “But I think you deserve to hear it.”

Dave quiets and keeps swaying with Klaus in their dance. “Can I kiss you?”

Klaus gasps a light gasp, a small puff of air that escapes his mouth and floats away. “Yes,” he says. “Please.”

Dave raises his soft kind eyes to Klaus, and leans in to press his lips to Klaus’s slightly open mouth. Klaus gasps again, into the kiss. It’s a kiss. They’re kissing, Klaus is kissing Dave.

Suddenly realizing that he’s just been standing there like a fish out of water, Klaus mentally shakes himself out of it and starts to kiss back.

This kiss isn’t like other kisses Klaus has had before. It’s of course by no means his first kiss, but it’s the first one where he truly cares for the person he's kissing. Their kiss is soft and slow, like it wants to be stretched out for as long as possible.

It’s tender and sweet, and nothing like the rough open-mouthed kisses Klaus has given and received in the past. This kiss is one that Klaus wants to remember and treasure forever.

When they finally run out of breath and break apart, Dave leans his forehead against Klaus’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“For what?” asks Klaus. His voice is quiet, matching Dave’s in volume.

“For letting me kiss you,” says Dave. “I really liked it.”

Klaus smiles, and can feel Dave do the same into the fabric of his shirt. “We can do that again, if you want.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” laughs breathily Klaus. “You can kiss me as many times as you’d like.”

“Then,” smiles Dave, “I think I would like to kiss you again.”

And so they kiss again, and Dave’s hand is still on Klaus’s shoulder, and Klaus’s is still wrapped around Dave’s waist. They kiss until it’s time to leave, and even then they kiss once more.

+

Klaus's head lays on Dave’s chest, his hands tracing patterns of scars and freckles on Dave’s skin. Dave’s breathing is deep and heavy. They’re both tired after a day out on the field, fighting for their lives and the lives of others.

But now the day is over, and it’s time to rest.

“Have I ever told you,” says Klaus, “That you are absolutely stunning?”

Dave laughs. “Once or twice.”

“Good. You deserve to hear it.”

“So you’ve said.”

Klaus smiles up at Dave, and presses a soft kiss to his clavicle. “You’re beautiful.”

“You always say that, but you never tell me why,” Dave teases.

“Okay. Then I’ll tell you why I think you’re so wonderful.” Dave laughs, but Klaus is full of intent to accomplish this.

“First,” he starts. “Your hands.”

“My hands?”

“Yes. They’re so riveting. They tell a story. Like look,” Klaus takes hold of Dave’s left hand, and traces one of the raised lines on its dorsum. “That scar’s from when you cut yourself on a bit of rock. This one,” he presses his lips to another scar on the palm of Dave’s hand, “Is from when you tripped and your hand landed on a tree branch.”

Dave laughs, light and free.

“Then there are the callouses,” continues Klaus. “See, you have callouses on your palms, but the rest of your skin is smooth.”

“My skin is smooth?” says Dave, incredulous.

“Very. Next is your smile.”

“My smile,” grins Dave. “What do you like about it?”

“It’s warm,” decides Klaus. “It’s warm and light, like a beacon. When you smile, your lips open just enough so you can see your teeth, and the edges of your eyes crinkle, a little bit.”

Dave ducks down to press a kiss to Klaus’s hair. “What’s next?”

“Hmm,” thinks Klaus. His fingers dance their way up to Dave’s face, until they’re resting on his cheeks. “Your eyes.”

“My eyes.”

“They’re so… they’re so blue. Like the sky.”

“My eyes are like the sky?” laughs Dave.

“They are,” Klaus says, full of half-fake seriousness. “They change like the sky too. When you’re happy,” he brushes his thumb under Dave’s jawbone. “They’re bright. When you’re upset,” Klaus’s hands caress Dave’s face. “They get darker. When you’re angry-”

Klaus pulls himself up and presses a kiss to Dave’s lips, “When you’re angry they become so dark you can barely see the clouds.”

“Is that bad?” whispers Dave against Klaus’s lips.

“Not at all,” murmurs Klaus. “It makes you special. Because even though they go dark when you feel that way, they’re as bright as the morning sun when you’re happy, and that is one of the most beautiful sights.”

“Klaus,” sighs Dave. “I think-”

He presses another kiss against Klaus’s mouth. “I think I love you.”

Klaus kisses back with all of the love he could possibly carry. “I think I love you too, Dave.”

“Stay with me,” says.

“I will,” answers Klaus. “But only if you promise to never leave.”

“I promise,” grins Dave, and Klaus smiles back and continues kissing Dave and telling him just why exactly he deserves the world.

+

“Dave? Dave!”

Klaus presses his hands against Dave’s chest. The bleeding isn’t stopping. Why is this bullet wound so _big_?

“Dave, stay with me! You can’t go, Dave!”

“Shh,” croaks Dave. His weakening hand shoots out and grabs at Klaus’s wrist. “Klaus, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

“No,” wails Klaus. “Don’t say it like that! Don’t say it like you’re going to leave!”

Dave smiles through the pain, and squeezes Klaus’s hand a little tighter.

“You promised,” sobs Klaus. “You promised you wouldn't leave!”

“Shh,” tries to soothe Klaus the dying man. “Shh. It’ll be alright, Klaus. It’ll be okay.”

Another terrible sob tears itself out of Klaus’s throat. “No,” he cries. “No no no. Don’t leave, Dave, please. Please.”

Dave huffs a wet laugh, and reaches up to wipe the tears out of Klaus’s eyes.

“Have I ever told you,” he chokes out. “That you have the most beautiful eyes?”

Klaus grabs onto Dave’s bloody hand and presses it to his cheek, crying and saying over and over again the words Dave will never get to say again.

“I love you.”

+

Klaus appears on the bus. It’s the same bus from ten months ago. The case is clutched between his bloody hands, resting on his legs.

He stares down at it and tries not to cry.

When the bus stops, he gets off. It’s still day.

Klaus chokes out a slightly manic laugh. It’s been so long, so much has happened, but at the same time it’s only been a couple of hours. For him, it’s been months. For everybody else? It’s hasn’t even been a day.

Klaus laughs, and with every suffocating sound he makes he sinks further down onto the ground. He lands on the sidewalk, nobody paying any mind to the bloody weirdo on the street.

He smashes the briefcase on the ground once, twice, again and again until there’s nothing left of it but bits and pieces.

Then Klaus breaks open, and falls onto the dirty pavement, grasping at his shirt and trying to breathe through his tears.

He’s gone. Dave’s gone.

He can’t feel anything but static and noises, loud distorted horrors playing through his head on repeat, insanity closer than ever.

_“Will you love me? Like you loved me? In the January rain…”_

**Author's Note:**

> I cried the entire time I was writing this. I cried when I got the idea for this, and I'm crying now as I'm posting it. Mary is a song that I cry to every time it comes on, and I thought hey! Why not make it that much more painful for myself and write about it?
> 
> I'm so sorry, Klaus and Dave. You deserve better than what canon gave you. 
> 
> My tumblr is [@seven-misfits](https://seven-misfits.tumblr.com/) come cry about klave with me. Leave a comment here if you want. I'll respond to it.
> 
> [Here's](https://seven-misfits.tumblr.com/post/185607589117/will-you-love-me-like-you-loved-me-and-ill-never) the rebloggable post.


End file.
